Walmart Exec Who Led Push For Health Clinic To Exit

Walmart Reduces Corporate Workforce With Layoffs

Sean Slovenski, who led Walmart‘s healthcare initiative, will step down from his position, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Slovenski serves as senior vice president and president of health and wellness for the retail giant. Walmart confirmed he is leaving, and people familiar with the matter said that would happen as soon as this week, WSJ reported.

Slovenski joined Walmart in 2018 and worked to expand the company’s healthcare market, including opening clinics. The idea was to compete more with Amazon and branch out in terms of revenue sources. Last year, Slovenski said in a WSJ interview that the general plan was to add clinics at 4,700 stores in the U.S.

The company recently announced that there would be at least six more clinics in the greater Atlanta area, along with others in Florida and Chicago. The clinics have the ability to offer primary care, dental exams and other assessments like X-rays and mental health counseling, PYMNTS reported. They’ll range from 5,200 to 8,800 square feet, with a waiting room, exam rooms and other rooms for special classes or other purposes.

Amid the pandemic, Walmart has opened 100 COVID-19 testing sites in store parking lots and worked to test its 2.2 million workers around the world for the virus, according to WSJ.

In a memo to staff, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said the company is “excited to continue building and expanding on what [Slovenski] created at Walmart,” and that Slovenski and his team “have successfully stood up the strategy we hired him to create,” WSJ reported.

Walmart also recently announced a round of corporate layoffs. The company laid off hundreds of employees in the fields of logistics, real estate and retail location planning in spite of the fact that it has been performing well and making money through the pandemic.